Monday, April 23, 2012

Rod Reinforcement Weave: for When the Conveyance Gets Tough


One of our customers at Furnace Belt runs a business that – in part – involves the manufacturing of air brakes for semi-trucks. Beyond that critical component of what they do, they also are in the business of shredding old rubber tires, recycling the heated, re-treated rubber for any number of uses. Needless to say, the business of shredding tires and melting them down into other applications is a terrifically heat-intensive process. In order for such a process to be conducted in an orderly, automated fashion, conveyor belt mesh is needed that will be extremely resistant to searing levels of temperature, as well as providing a durable, tensile means of holding down the parts as they become recycled.

To that end, rod reinforcement mesh weaves allow for companies like our own client to incorporate industrial-strength heat resistance into the material that forms their conveyor lines. Designed by using single directional spirals (much like those in a chain-link fence, though usually more tightly interwoven), each “line” of mesh is then reinforced by a single rod that runs through its entire width. This rod gives the mesh an ability to bear considerable loads, in addition to insuring that the mesh material doesn’t expand beyond usefulness during the extreme heating process. Perfect for any number of high temperature industrial applications, the rod-reinforced weaves we make at Furnace Belt continue to supply American manufacturing with a sturdy, efficient means to an end.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Compound Balanced Weaves: Ideal for Smaller Components


In the case of an industrial process like the metal working of small components, a lot of hard work and man-hours can go to waste if the right conveyor belt isn’t used. Think of the size of many of the nuts, bolts, and screws that go into assembling whatever application you ultimately intend. Think of the dimensions that each of these applications takes up – oftentimes close to nothing, right? To insure this problem of “component leakage” never occurs, we fortunately have the compound balanced weave.

Named so on account of its compactness, these particular types of balanced weaves consist of a seamless, ”compounded” series of left-hand and right-hand spirals. Generally fabricated from much the same materials as are common balanced weaves, these meshes have an interlocked firmness to them that is a distant cousin of medieval chain mail. The sheer accumulation of mesh-links allows for the mesh belt to sustain considerably heavier loads than can the lighter, more interspersed “common” balanced weave. At Furnace Belt, our own compound balanced weaves can be built to endure a hefty 8.14 lb/ft², making them ideal for bearing small metal components of considerable mass.